Improved mail pouch or box



PATENT OFFICE.

MARSHALL SMITH, OF ST.LOUIS, MISSOURI.

IMPROVED MAIL POUCH 0R Box.

Specification forming part of Letters To all 'whom it may concern Beitknown that I, MARsHALL SMITH, of the city'and county of St. Louis, andState of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Boxesor Pouches for Carrying Mails 5 and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full and clear description thereof, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference markedthereon.

Of the annexed drawings, Figure l is aperspective elevation ot'one ofthe boxes with the lid of it open and exhibiting two devices, A and B,for securing the letters in position during their transportation. Fig. 3is a transverse section of th e box, showing the follower or compressorB. Figs. 2, 4, 5, and 7 are elevations of followers or compressors. Fig.6 is an end elevation of the box, showin g a device for attaching areversible direction-label to it.

This invention relates, irst, to an improvement in lnaihpouches aspatented by myself on the 17th day of May, A. D. 1864, said improvementbeing on the follower and compressor which contines the letters inposition in the box during their transportation. A previous patent wasgranted to me on the same subject on the 28thday of April, A. D. 1863.In both of the abovementioncd patents the follower or compressor andpartitions are described as being held in place bymeans of a strap orstraps, or similar contrivances, which are made to pass around thepartitions and hold them together or toward one end of the box or pouch.In the present arrangement the follower 'and compressor and partitionsmay be shoved up to their positions and there held by means of toothedracks or similar devices, as will be hereinafter explained; an(secondly, this invention relates to themanner of attaching thedirection-label to the box; and, thirdly, to the iuterposition of arubber packingbetween the different parts of the box to form awater-tight connection between those parts.

In the former patentsthc receptacle for the letters was described as apouch made of leather. In the present description I shall describeawooden box strapped with iron. Either forni 1n. y be used, but l willnow proceed to describe the wooden box.

G represents a wooden box, the lid D of which is open in Fig. landclosed in Figs. 3 and 6. Metallic straps a are made to sur- Patent No.54,787, dated May l5, 1866.

round the box, as a means of additional security and strength. A leatherstrap or straps, b, may be fastened to one or both ends of the box toforni a handle for it. The lid l) is hinged to one side of the box at c,and is provided with a hasp, d, which is intended to hook over thestaple d', where it may be securedl by means ot' a padlock, such as isusually employed in the mail-service of the United States.

There may be one or more partitions, (not shown in the drawings,) usedin a manner similar to the partitions described in the patents alreadyreterred to-z'. e., to keep the different mails for small post-olicesseparated fromeach other while being transported in the same bOX orpouch. The follower or compressorAis Umd@ to slide between the metallicways ef, the loWGl edges of which are cut into the form ot' sfLW-teetli. There are two springs, g, one ot' which is shown by the dottedlines in Fig. 1 fastened to the back side of the partition A, and soarranged that the outer ends of them will rest on the top smoothstraight edge of the guides or compressor up into thetoothedindentations, as above described. There are two tenons, n n, oneach en'd of thefollower or compressor, which enter grooves prepared forthem below the ways e j', and against the saw-teeth of which they act.The ends of the saw-teeth which are toward the forward end of the box inwhich the letters are to be placed are made vertical, with an easy slopefrom the point of each tooth down to the base of the next tooth behind.By this arrangement of the teeth the follower or compressor may be slidup `tightly to the letters by simply pushing with thehand against theback ofit, but the spring g will raise the tenons n a up into the teethon `the ways ef, so it cannot be moved back until 1t 1s pressed downfrom the top enough to disengage the tenons from the teeth.

The follower or compressorB is asomewhat similar construction of adevice equivalent to the one already described. In this case acorrugated plate, h, is fastened to each side of the box, and into thesecorrngations a sliding bolt or bar, z', is thrust by turning the leverjdown. This construction of the bolts z' and lever j will be more clearlyunderstood by reference to Figs. 2 and 3. In those views it will be seenthat the bolts are secured to the parj, against which it presses toraise the follower tition by means of screws or rivets i', which passthrough slots in the bolts, so as to permit them to have a longitudinalmotion. The bolts are connected with the levers by means of the twoscrews or rivets 0?, one of which is above and the other below thefulcrum of the lever, so that when it is moved in one direction bothbolts will be thrown outward, and when it is moved in the oppositedirection both bolts will recede. Thus it will be observed the operatorcan, by raising the lever with his thumb, release both ends of thefollower or compressor at the same moment. In the construction hereshown, when the outer end of the lever is thrown down the bolts will beout, and must remain so while the lid of the box is closed, for the endof the lever is so disposd that the lid of the box presses against itwhen in this position.

Figs. 4, 5, and 7 are only different forms of arranging and combiningthe bolts i and leverj with the follower B, and as these variations ofconstruction are not shown in themodel, and are almost endless invariety, they will not be minutely described. These devices are intendedto be substituted for the strap surrounding the follower or compressorand partitions described in the patents already alluded to.

On one end of theboxa recess should be cut sufcien tly deep and oftheproper size to receive the label M, which is arranged to slip looselyinto a groove formed by this recess, and the metallic plate m screwed orotherwise fastened on the end of the box. When the lid of the box isclosed it will prevent the label from getting out of place.

When the lid is open the label can be removed and replaced with theother side of it outward, thus directing the box to the post-officewhence it came.

The groove which surrounds the outer edge of the lid D, and into whichthe top edge ofthe box enters when the same is closed, should have arubber or other suitable packing, av, placed in it, so as to form awater-tight joint between the parts when the boxis closed. The same kindof packing may be introduced into all the other joints of the box forthe same purpose.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The combination ofthe box C D with the toothed ways c f and sliding follower or compressorA, or corrugated ways 7L and followers or compressor B, or theirequivalent devices,

when employed as and for the purpose set forth.

2. Attaching the reversible label M to the box O, substantially asdescribed.

3. Interposing a rubber or any other suitable packing, w, between thedifferent parts of wooden boxes, so as to make them water-tight for theconveyance of mails.

4. A box tted with internal partitions and followers arranged toseparate parcels of mailmatter while being conveyed in the same box, thewhole used as a package for inclosin g mails for and in transportation,substantially as set forth.

MARSHALL SMITH.

WVitnesses M. RANDOLPH, A. WAGNER.

